Bootstraps, Slingshots and Angels

Summary

"For nearly three years the Catalysing Access to [information and communication technologies] ICTs in Africa programme (CATIA) has worked towards strengthening the context for the vibrant adoption and use of ICTs in Africa. The programme has been set up with nine components, each with its particular advocacy aim, in countries as diverse as Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Senegal. As components have found, the private sector is crucial to the success of their interventions..."

To document its experience in engaging the private sector, CATIA has produced Bootstraps, slingshots and angels, an article that looks at the successes and challenges the programme has had over the past two-and-a-half years. The article is the result of interviews with CATIA participants from both civil society and private sector backgrounds.

Some of the key findings of the interviews are:

• The private sector has been crucial to the success of a number of the CATIA advocacy drives. In countries such as Kenya, a multi-stakeholder approach, which has included the media, has had a startling impact, including playing a major role in the development of the country’s ICT policy strategy.
• In many instances, the relationship between civil society and the private sector is seen to be mutually beneficial. Working with the private sector means that collective expertise can be leveraged and a common advocacy goal forged that neither sector could have developed on its own.
• By collaborating with civil society, private sector activity begins to be formulated and articulated in the context of broader socio-economic issues, such as job creation, poverty eradication, and consumer awareness.
• Through its engagement with the private sector, civil society has learned to work more efficiently and be more decisive in its advocacy strategies and actions. Collaboration with the private sector has, in some instances, made its work more acceptable to government, and, therefore, more influential in encouraging ICT policy change.

Winning the private sector’s trust has been a major hurdle for many ICT advocates. This includes dealing with a natural sense of competition between private sector participants. Components have found that it is important to create a forum where each sector’s needs can be understood and where disagreements can be expressed.

The best advocacy approach tends to depend on the balance of power between the private sector, civil society, and the state. Often a dependence on the government for contracts (as in Ethiopia) means that the private sector is reluctant to directly confront the state in an advocacy drive. At the same time, an ‘unofficial’ relationship between some private sector players and the government can hamper advocacy initiatives. Businesses sometimes need to be encouraged to cut back on “personal political space.”

While some multinational IT companies have been reluctant to be involved in ICT advocacy initiatives, those that have suggest that the relationship has been beneficial and in line with its own business aims. Note: The CATIA programme ended in 2006. Some archived information is available through specific URLs, but the web domain no longer contains CATIA contents.